Water and The City
On Tuesday, November 12, Michiel Van Driessche will give a keynote during the ‘Water and the City’ conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. How can cities develop sustainably in a time of extreme rainfall and hot, dry summers? Using ‘best practices,’ Michiel will share the story of the nature-powered city and explain how applying Nature-based Solutions at different scales can make a city future-proof.
About Water and the City
The aim of the event is to draw the attention of both professionals and the wider public to the need for initiating a dialogue and cooperation process regarding the opportunities and challenges in managing rivers and developing riverside areas and the blue-green system in the context of spatial planning using the example of the Municipality of Sofia.
Rivers have always played a significant role in the well-being of people and the places they inhabit. They are part of the water cycle, support ecosystems, and are a valuable resource for economic and social prosperity that must be responsibly preserved and sustainably managed.
In the face of increasingly frequent extreme phenomena such as prolonged heatwaves and droughts, storms, and floods, rivers and their adjacent areas are becoming more central to local policies. Efforts by local authorities in Europe are focusing not only on maintaining and restoring rivers and riverbeds but also on their integrated management and the development of riverside areas. The potential of rivers is being rediscovered, and innovative approaches are increasingly sought to integrate and revitalize them as part of the urban environment and the cities' blue-green systems.
In this context, nature-based solutions are seen as an effective and gentle approach to environmental intervention, capable of achieving multiple outcomes in areas such as climate change and disaster risk, urban resilience, expanding access to public and green spaces, public health, the local economy, and more.
The recommendations aim to unite various stakeholders and competent institutions in creating a joint action plan and formulating systemic solutions that integrate water management and territorial planning. This would help overcome existing challenges and activate opportunities at both local and regional levels.
Details
Organized by: Union of Urban Planners in Bulgaria with OP Sofiaplan, with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Sofia
Subject: river management, development of riverside territories
Guests: Michiel Van Driessche
Date: Tuesday, 12th November
Time: 09:30-12:30
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
